Veggies dearer, petrol pumps run dry across India amid truckers' strike

Centre holding high-level meeting to break the impasse on Bharat Nyay Sanhita

Vegetable prices inched up­w­ar­ds and petrol pumps dried up across India on the second day of the nationwide strike called by truckers and transporters against provisions of the new penal law on hit-and-run cases, even as reports late on Tuesday said the agitation had been called off.

Earlier in the day, Home Sec­re­ta­ry Ajay Bhalla chaired a meeting with truckers to break the impasse.

According to the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which will replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), drivers who cause serious road mishaps due to negligent driving and run away without informing the police or the administration can face punishment of up to 10 years or a fine of Rs 7 lakh.

 

Under the IPC, the punishment in such cases was for two years. Sou­rces said the provision was made more stringent following a Supreme Court directive. They clarified that the law states that if a person immediately reports an accident caused by reckless driving to a police officer or magistrate, the individual would be awarded a lesser sentence. The law is applicable to all drivers.

The issue also drew political rea­ctions with the Congress fearing that misuse of the law could lead to an “extortionist network” and “organised corruption”. Party chief Mall­ikarjun Kharge accused the government of “penalising the poor” while stalling infrastructural investment.

In Mumbai, around 70 per cent of the estimated 1.2 lakh trucks, te­m­pos and containers in the Mum­bai Metropolitan Region (MMR) had remained off the roads on Mon­day, according to official sources.

On Tuesday, several trucks and oil containers were queuing up at petrol stations for refills.

The strike, called for three days, is likely to impact distribution of fuel, vegetables and fruits.

Priti Anam, a local fruit vendor in Mulund, an eastern suburb of Mumbai, faced hurdles in making purchases from the wholesale market and the agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) at Vashi. “Stocks will be available for the next few days, but prices will go up and the quality will suffer due to wastage,” she said.

There are nearly 150,000 drivers of trucks and other commercial fleets in Mumbai. The MMR area alone is expected to suffer losses to the tune of Rs 120-130 crore.

Vijay Sharma of Pooja Transport Corporation, a Mumbai-based transport contractor, hoped the situation would improve as the “politics” over the issue boiled down. Petrol stations were among the worst hit in the commercial capital. “The petrol pumps in my locality have run out of fuel, and mine will too by evening,” said Ravi Shinde, a dealer in Mumbai’s central suburbs.

In Mumbai, senior executives of fast-moving consumer goods companies also feared delays in trucks delivering their goods if the strike continued. “We have not seen any material impact yet. But, if the situation persists, there will be an impact on the flow of goods,” Mayank Shah, senior category head at Parle Products, said.

In West Bengal, the last couple of days witnessed sporadic protests against the new penal provisions. 

At Posta Bazar, a sub-mart for perishable commodities in Kolk­ata’s Burra­bazar, the impact of the agitation is yet to be felt. “We have stocks, so there is no impact yet. But if this continues for 15-20 days, there will be an impact,” said Biswanath Agarwala, general secretary, Posta Bazar Merchants’ Association.

In Delhi, the situation was contrasting. Onion prices in the city’s biggest wholesale market of Azad­pur (see chart) rose by almost 51 per cent due to low supplies from Maharashtra. “As against 60-70 onion trucks (small and big) entering Azadpur mandi daily, the number has come down to 20-25 in the last few days,” said Surinder Budhiraja, a trader at Azadpur.

He said supplies of vegetables ferried from long distances were hit.

Anil Malhotra, associated with the Azadpur APMC, blamed transporters for the chaos that trucks carrying perishables can create on the roads. He said transporters reward truck drivers with sums as high as Rs 30,000 over and above the fare for a trip of timely delivered goods. This encourages drivers to drive rashly leading to mishaps.

“We have received news of our tankers and their drivers (ferrying fuel) being obstructed from entering oil depots in some parts. A couple of our tankers have also been damaged. This has caused trouble and impacted our supplies,” said Ajay Bansal, a spokesperson for the All India Petroleum Dealers Assoc­iation in a video message on Tues­day, appealing to protesters to arrive at a resolution peacefully.

(With inputs from Sanjeeb Muk­h­er­jee, Sohini Das, Ishita Ayan Dutt, Am­ritha Pillay and Sharleen D’Souza)